Balasore, Dec 20: For the fourth time in three days, Trishul, India's most sophisticated short range surface-to-air missile, was test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here today, ITR sources said. The sleek missile, indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was fired from a mobile launcher at 12.57 pm.

The missile was directed at a air-borne target, the sources said.

The solid fuel propellant missile, which can carry a warhead weighing 15 kg, has a triple battlefield role for the Army, Navy and Air Force and has a range of 9 km.

The ongoing trials were intended to gauge the accuracy and various other parameters of the missile, the source said.

Trishul, which was test fired on Wednesday and twice yesterday is part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Bureau Report